The 2011 pkmncollectors Census was the second annual survey of the community's demographics, preferences, and opinions.

The 2011 census received 515 responses. As of early 2012, the community boasted more than 3,900 members, although many (if not most) are certainly inactive.

Some of the more open-ended questions were difficult for me to pin down specific numbers... So, for some questions I'll provide a bit more explanation. Also, not all percentages add up to 100 because not everyone answered every single question on the census, and some questions let people choose more than one answer.

Personal InformationMost community members were kids when the original Pokémon games and anime debuted around the world and are currently in their late teens and early 20s. Based on census results, the most common age among pkmncollectors is currently 19, with 61 people indicating that as their age. That was followed by 59 respondents who are 22, 57 who are 21, 49 who are 23, 45 who are 20, 38 who are 24, 29 who are 25, 28 who are 18, 27 who are 17, 18 who are 26, 14 who are 15, 10 who are 14, 10 who are 28, nine who are 27, eight who are 16, five who are 13, five who are 29, five who are 31, three who are 32, two who are 30, and one each who are 34, 48, 51, 53, and 59.

When asked what gender they identify with, respondents could select male, female, both, or neither. As a result, 86 percent of respondents selected female, and 15 percent selected male.

Most pkmncollectors live in the United States, with 335 people claiming it as their current country of residence. That was followed by 39 in Canada; 36 in England; 21 in Australia; nine in Finland; five in The Netherlands; four in Germany; three in Argentina, Scotland, and Singapore; two in Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines, Slovakia, and Sweden; and one each in Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Russia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, and Wales.

Most U.S. pkmncollectors members live in California, with 52 respondents selecting this state as their home. Other respondents who indicated their home U.S. states or territories were 19 in Texas and Virginia; 18 in Florida and New York; 16 in Ohio; 15 in Pennsylvania; 14 in Michigan; 10 in Arizona; nine in Washington; eight in Colorado; seven in Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, and North Carolina; six in Georgia, New Jersey, and Oregon; five in Indiana, Missouri, Utah, and Wisconsin; four in Maine, Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Tennessee; two in Arkansas, Connecticut, Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, and West Virginia; and one in Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Kansas, Mississippi, North Dakota, and Puerto Rico.

Among Canadian members, 14 respondents live in Ontario; 10 live in British Columbia; five live in Nova Scotia; three live in Quebec; two live in Manitoba; and one each lives in Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

In England, respondents indicated their regional locations as follows: eight in London; five in Kent; three in Suffolk; two in Dorset; one in Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Manchester, Merseyside, Middlesex, Norfolk, North Lincolnshire, Somerset, Staffordshire, West Sussex, West Yorkshire, and Yorkshire.

Respondents in Australia listed these as their regional locations: eight in Victoria, four in New South Wales, three in Queensland, one in South Australia, and one in Tasmania.

Other regional areas with census respondents include: two in Buenos Aires, Argentina; one in Antrim, Ireland; one in Ascoli Piceno, Italy; one in Bratislava, Slovakia; one in Rizal, Philippines; one in Dublin, Ireland; one in Edinburghshire, Scotland; one in Glamorgan, Wales; one in Jutland, Denmark; one in Lower Saxony, Germany; one in Manila, Philippines; one in Moscow, Russia; one in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany; one in Overijssel, the Netherlands; one in Pirkanmaa, Finland; one in Querétaro, Mexico; one in Renfrewshire, Scotland; one in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil; one in Santiago, Chile; one in Sarawak, Malaysia; and one in Södermanland, Sweden.

A plurality of census respondents, 42 percent, said they are not currently in a romantic relationship. Thirty-six percent said they are in a relationship, followed by 6 percent who are engaged, 6 percent who are married, and 0 percent (but two respondents) who said they were married but separated.

Twenty-two percent of respondents who are in a relationship said their partners like Pokémon but aren't collectors. Fourteen percent said their partners also collect Pokémon merchandise, followed by 12 percent who said their partners seem indifferent to Pokémon. One percent said their partners seem to dislike Pokémon. Those who filled in the "other" option had responses including: partner only collects what is bought for him/her, partner only plays the Pokémon TCG, partner likes role playing as Pokémon in intimate settings, partner used to like Pokémon, partner is only interested in a certain Pokémon.

Two percent of census respondents said they have children of their own.

We're an overall educated bunch, with 39 percent of respondents currently in higher education (college/university) of some form, followed by 23 percent who have already graduated with a college/university degree. Seventeen percent are high school graduates (who haven't gone to college/university), 13 percent are in middle or high school, and 7 percent voted "other." Many of those respondents said they were in college for some time but quit before graduating.

Fifty-one percent of respondents said they are currently employed. A plurality of respondents (75) work full-time or nearly full-time (between 30-40 hours per week). Sixty-one respondents work between 11-20 hours per week, 40 work between 21-30 hours, 23 between 0-10 hours, 21 between 41-50 hours, three between 51-60 hours, and one respondent said he or she works a whopping 80 hours per week!

Pokémon Preferences and HistoryMost respondents have been Pokémon fans for more than 10 years, with 32 percent becoming fans of the series in 1998. That's followed by 23 percent in 1996, 16 percent in 1999, 14 percent in 1997, 5 percent in 2000, and 1 percent each in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, and 2011.

By far, fire was the most popular Pokémon type among census respondents. Eighty-four people indicated that as their favorite, followed by 76 for water, 57 for electric, 37 for grass, 35 for dragon, 30 for psychic, 28 for dark, 23 for ghost, 21 for flying, 21 for normal, 18 for ice, 10 for poison, 10 for steel, 7 for bug, 6 for ground, 5 for fighting, and 3 for rock.

In a multiple-choice question, 41 percent of respondents said Generation I is their favorite, followed by 38 percent for Generation II, 24 percent for Generation V, 23 percent for Generation III, 18 percent for Generation IV, and 13 percent who said they had no preference.

Nearly every respondent — 96 percent — plays the main series of Pokémon video games, followed by 45 percent who play spin-off games. Forty-three percent said they enjoy fanart, fanfiction, and other fan creations, while 38 percent enjoy the Pokémon Trading Card Game. When it comes to the anime, 34 percent enjoy a dub in some language other than Japanese, and 32 percent watch the anime series in its original language. Thirty-one percent of respondents said they read Pokémon manga, 6 percent said they watch Pokémon Smash, and 4 percent responded "other." Those people said they enjoy Pokémon toys and the Pokémon fanbase.

The answers for the question about favorite merchandise were far too diverse and lengthy to accurately organize, but popular types of Pokémon merchandise among respondents include Poké Dolls, zukan figures, Kid figures, Tomy plush and figures, plush in general, figures in general, Canvas plush, 1:1-size plush, UFO catcher plush... Well, you get the picture! Basically, every type of merchandise was mentioned at some point! :)

The community grew a lot in 2011, with 171 new members who responded to the census. That was followed by 150 respondents who joined in 2010, 89 in 2009, 55 in 2008, and 35 in 2007, the year the community was established.

More than half of census respondents, 52 percent, said they first learned about pkmncollectors when it showed up in search engine results. Twenty-two percent said they learned about it while browsing LiveJournal, 21 percent were referred to the community by another person, and 5 percent were referred by another Pokémon website. Eight percent selected "other," with specific responses including 4chan, Tumblr, Etsy, Hardrock Pokémon, the official Pokémon TCG forum, pokemon, DeviantArt, Sunyshore, and YouTube.

In a multiple-choice question, the overwhelming majority of respondents, 91 percent, said they joined the community to buy Pokémon merchandise from other members. Most respondents, 78 percent, said they joined pkmncollectors to read about and look at pictures of Pokémon merchandise. Fifty-seven percent wanted to make friends, 42 percent wanted to sell merchandise to other members, 34 percent wanted to post pictures and information about merchandise, 29 percent wanted to trade merchandise, and 5 percent chose "other." Those responses included viewing/buying/selling custom merchandise, learning about and communicating with people in other countries, general Pokémon interest, and the desire to be part of a community.

A plurality of respondents, 127, said they have between 0-50 items in their Pokémon merchandise collection. That was followed by 51 who have 101-150 items, 49 who have 51-100 items, 40 who have 151-200 items, 28 who have 251-300 items, 21 who have 201-250 items, 21 who have around 500 items, nine who have around 800 items, six who have 301-350 items, six who have around 600 items, six who have around 1,000 items, five who have around 700 items, three who have more than 5,000 items, two who have around 650 items, one who has around 1,300 items, and one who has around 2,000 items.

The next set of answers always seems to make some people feel uncomfortable. Well, here it is — the money question. No shame! Twenty-nine percent of census respondents said they have spent between $1,001-$5,000 on their collection so far, followed by 23 percent who have spent $101-$500, 21 percent who have spent $501-$1,000, 8 percent who have spent $5,001-$10,000, 4 percent who have spent $51-$100, 2 percent who have spent $10,001-$15,000, 1 percent who have spent less than $50, and 1 percent who have spent more than $15,000 so far.

In a multiple-choice question, respondents said they receive the money to buy the items in their collection from the following sources: work paycheck (67 percent), allowance/gifts (57 percent), selling merchandise on LiveJournal (44 percent), selling merchandise online (non-LJ) (24 percent), other (11 percent), government or college/university financial aid (10 percent). "Other" responses include selling commissions, partner's income, inheritance, savings, and odd jobs.

When it comes to the primary source of income for respondents' collections, work paychecks were the answer for 48 percent, followed by allowance/gifts for 22 percent, "other" for 14 percent, selling merchandise on LiveJournal for 8 percent, government or college/university financial aid for 5 percent, and selling merchandise online (non-LJ) for 3 percent.

A little more than half of respondents, 55 percent, said they have sales permission on pkmncollectors, and 32 percent said they have hosted or co-hosted a group auction.

Sixty-one percent of respondents said the community currently has enough moderators, while 33 percent said more are needed. One percent said the community should reduce the number of moderators.

The remaining three questions, regarding a hypothetical pkmncollectors convention, respondents' favorite things about the community, and their suggestions on how to improve the community, are so insightful and diverse that I am going to attach them as separate links so that everyone's response is available. They are much too lengthy to post here behind this LJ cut.

Now, when it comes to that final question, please keep in mind that denkimouse reviewed some of the responses in advance and changed some things (e.g., fixing the feedback system, etc.) since then. But we decided to keep all the answers intact — except for one. That response was regarding a specific member and will not be released to the public, although Gin is aware of the complaint. Remember, all of these answers are completely anonymous, so we don't know who provided what response. No worries!

Feel free to use the comment section of this post to discuss the results! Let's have an open, honest, and friendly dialogue. Please be respectful of others' opinions.

Thank you so much to everyone who took the survey and provided me with kind encouragement. :)